The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Many modern automatic motor vehicle transmissions utilize controlled hydraulic fluid (transmission oil) to actuate clutches and brakes to achieve desired combinations of engagements and provide a useful sequence of gear ratios. The control of such hydraulic fluid is achieved by a valve body which comprises a plurality of spool valves which direct hydraulic fluid flow through a complex of passageways to clutch and brake actuators. The valve body is supplied with pressurized hydraulic fluid from, typically, a gear or vane pump, which is driven by the engine output shaft or the transmission input shaft.
Because this is such a common transmission configuration and because of the manufacturing volume of such automatic transmissions, extensive research and development has been undertaken to reduce the cost and optimize the performance of such pumps. For example, simplifying such pumps to reduce their weight and cost, reducing their size to improve packaging, improving low speed performance, improving low temperature performance and reducing high speed energy losses have all been areas of development and improvement.
In particular, a typical transmission pump may be rotated at or near the same speed as the engine of the vehicle. The pumps are often sized to meet hydraulic pressure and volume demands of the transmission at low speed idle engine conditions. Friction forces inside the pump increase as the size of the pump increases. Accordingly, larger diameter higher displacement pumps that meet hydraulic demands of the transmission near engine idle speed often contribute to undesirable drag losses and decrease efficiency of the vehicle. These pumps provide much greater oil flow than what is consumed by the transmission at higher engine speeds, leading to loss in overall transmission efficiency.
The present invention is directed to improvements that reduce pump drag losses and improve transmission efficiency while meeting hydraulic demands of the transmission at engine idle speeds.